As is known in such manufacturing installations the filling material is introduced by means of a filling apparatus under pressure into the filling pipe connected thereto and transported or guided in the filling pipe to the closure device. The filling pipe also carries and guides the packaging casing to the closure device, on the outer periphery of the filling pipe. The filling material issues from the filling pipe from the mouth opening thereof which is disposed in the proximity of the closure device and is thus introduced into the tubular casing which has been previously closed at one end by means of a closure clip, or into the packaging casing in bag form. When a predetermined or desired portion size is reached, the closure device divides a sausage from the filled tubular casing by constricting it locally to produce a plaited end portion on the tubular casing by means of constriction elements. In this respect sausage denotes not a given content (for example foodstuff) but the shape of the end product, which is governed by the manufacturing procedure involved. Then, in the region of the plaited end portion of the tubular casing, two axially displaced closure clips are fitted around the tubular casing and closed by means of closure tools (female die and punch member). Thereafter the tubular casing is severed between the two closure elements by means of a blade and the closed sausage is individually separated off.
As an alternative to the above-discussed manufacturing installation with a closure device, for example DE 100 55 310 discloses a manufacturing installation with a twisting device for closing sausages, downstream of which is disposed a length-dimensioning unit for controlled removal of the twisted sausages. In that situation a uniform pull is exerted on the line of sausages which are connected to each other, by means of two conveyor belts which are synchronized with the filling process in order to achieve a uniform length for all sausages independently of the filling material discharge procedure.
The purpose of the apparatus set forth in the opening part of this specification or the method set forth in the opening part of this specification for redistributing pasty filling material in a packaging casing produced in that way is in contrast to produce sausages with a freely selectable and in particular non-round cross-section. For that purpose it is necessary for the packaging casing which is generally of a round cross-section to be filled not chock-full but loosely, that is to say only partially with filling material, for example sausage meat or the like. It is only when the packaging remains loose that it can then be deformed. A loose packaging is produced in known manner by means of a closure device in which division takes place on the basis of the principle of spreading displacement. In that case the constriction or displacement elements are firstly brought together radially with respect to the packaging casing in a scissor-like movement in order to constrict the casing. Then they are moved axially away from each other in order to increase the length of the constriction region and in that way to produce an unfilled packaging casing portion into which the filling material can be redistributed after the closure step.
In order to produce a sausage of the desired cross-section the loose packaging casing is introduced into a shaping box. For that purpose however the filling material must firstly be distributed as uniformly as possible over the entire length of the packaging casing as otherwise it cannot be pressed into the shaping box. The redistribution operation is effected by hand. As many sausage products are filled with a filling material which is very tough and contains in part fibrous and/or non-flowing constituents, redistribution of the filling material in the packaging casing is a very strenuous process which requires a great deal of manual strength. Added to that is the fact that such sausage products are of a high weight which must be moved by the workers. Automation in that processing stage is not known.